Chapter 46

Early the next morning, Asano Aiko drove to Akiwara Yuto's residence and took the manuscripts for the last two issues from his hands.

Although she was mentally prepared, she couldn't help but be surprised by Akiwara Yuto's talent after seeing the content on the manuscripts.

These two manuscripts told two stories, titled "Searching for Blood" and "The White House in the Cold Forest" respectively.

The protagonist of "Searching for Blood" is an old man who has lost his sense of pain. He woke up one morning hearing a knock on the door, and after opening it, he found it was his youngest son.

The youngest son walked into the room and found the old man covered in blood. He walked behind the old man and was surprised to find a knife stuck in him. In a panic, the youngest son immediately called other family members and the family doctor, and dialed the emergency number.

While waiting for the ambulance, the wife and eldest son, seeing that the possibility of the old man being saved was not high, began to argue over the property. The family doctor suddenly told the old man that the backup blood source he had prepared could save the old man's life, but it had unexpectedly disappeared.

In order to survive, the old man used his inheritance as a bargaining chip and ordered his wife, eldest son, and youngest son to go find the blood bag, but they couldn't find it for half a day.

At this time, the old man found a clue, realized that the blood bag might be in his room, and ordered the youngest son to get it.

After the youngest son brought the blood bag, the family doctor told the old man that the blood bag was already empty.

The old man fell into despair, while other family members discussed insurance matters as if nothing had happened, and even argued about the property. The old man's consciousness gradually blurred, all his memories began to replay involuntarily, and clues emerged.

When he was sleeping, the murderer sprinkled the blood bag on him through the window by the bed. Then he entered the room to wake him up and told him he was covered in blood. When he looked out the door in a panic, the murderer stabbed the kitchen knife into his back. Because the old man had no ability to feel pain, he was completely unaware.

Therefore, the person who discovered the old man was injured in the first place was the real murderer.

Although the old man knew the murderer, he did not expose him, but instead smiled. Amidst the surprise and confusion of his family, he closed his eyes forever.

The second story is called "The White House in the Cold Forest," which tells the story of a boy.

This boy lived in the stable of his aunt's house since he was a child. Not only did he have to bear heavy work, but he was also often abused by his aunt's family. Only the aunt's daughter cared about him.

After the boy grew up to be a man, he was driven out of the stable by his aunt and began to wander in the forest. He wanted to build his own house in the forest, but lacked the corresponding materials.

In order to obtain materials, the man began to kill passersby, making the trunks of the passersby into the foundation, walls, and even the roof of the house. In the end, he finally built his own house—a house where you can see countless eyes when you open your eyes.

This day, a young girl came to the front of the house. She asked the man to return her brother's corpse to her. To prove her sincerity, she specifically stood in the original position of her brother's corpse, acting as part of the wall.

As time passed, the girl also lost her life in hunger and cold.

The man was a little touched, and he decided to agree to the girl's request before she died. He demolished the house, put the corpses of the girl and her brother in a wooden box, and sent them to the home she mentioned.

As a result, he discovered that the girl's mother was actually the aunt's daughter who had been the only one to care about him before...

Both of these stories are themed on irony, which is slightly different from the style of the four issues of articles serialized before. However, the horror implication in the stories is still inherited in one continuous line.

Asano Aiko was a little amazed after reading it. After interacting with Akiwara Yuto for so long, she knew that the other party's personality was very easygoing and had nothing to do with the legendary psychopath.

But she was still puzzled, why could the articles written by Akiwara Yuto make people feel a kind of creepy feeling from the heart?

Is this the talent of a genius?

Or is Akiwara a potential criminal?

After reading the manuscript, she turned her head to look at Akiwara Yuto and found that he was already sitting at the desk, frowning as if considering some problem.

She guessed that the other party had encountered some writing difficulties, so she gently put away the manuscript and left the room quietly.

Akiwara Yuto didn't know that Asano Aiko had left; he had encountered difficulties at this moment.

Adapting foreign works into local Japanese works requires too many things to consider, making his progress very slow.

He pondered and thought that he still needed to go to the library a few more times to see how others write detective novels.

After all, this is a parallel world, and there are also many excellent works that can be used for reference.

He called Asano Aiko and asked for another 2 weeks of leave, which the latter approved very readily.

Akiwara Yuto obtained permission and began the two-point-one-line life of library and home every day again, thirstily acquiring the knowledge he wanted in the pile of books.

During the time he was "recharging," the fame of "New Novel" also further spread.

In the fifth week, the first-day sales of "New Novel" were 18,000 copies, and the daily sales fluctuation was not large afterwards.

When the statistics department counted the weekly sales, they found that a full 78,000 copies were sold!

In the sixth week, the first-day sales of "New Novel" exceeded 20,000 copies, and the new sales mainly came from the Yokohama area, where there seemed to be a group of fans.

In addition to the first edition of 40,000 copies being sold out, it was reprinted 3 full times afterwards, and the total weekly sales exceeded 80,000 copies!

On the day the weekly sales data of "New Novel" was announced, Kikuchi Tai was ecstatic and gave everyone a half-day off.

He privately found Asano Aiko and asked her to further handle the relationship with Akiwara Yuto well.

In addition, Kikuchi Tai also asked Asano Aiko to tell Akiwara Yuto that he would strive for more favorable conditions in the future, including the manuscript fee per page and the subsequent royalty for the standalone volume.

After Akiwara Yuto learned this news through the phone, he was no longer as excited as he was at the beginning; he was now mainly considering other things.

Across the receiver, Asano Aiko seemed to hear Akiwara Yuto's absent-mindedness and asked curiously: "Akiwara, have you encountered any difficulties? Do you need my help?"

She suspected that the other party had encountered some problems and wanted to see if she could help him devise a strategy.

After all, caring about the writer's situation is also an important duty of an editor.

Akiwara Yuto didn't expect the other party to take the initiative to offer help; after all, what he was encountering now was a matter of creation, and the main problem was the lack of accumulation of material.

He thought for a while, and the previous idea popped up again.

Asano seems to be a local of Tokyo; perhaps she has some connections that can help solve it?

He thought for a while and asked directly: "Asano, do you know any police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department? Preferably from the Investigation Division?"

He didn't actually hold much hope, but he asked anyway.

After all, to write a detective novel, one cannot avoid the description of the police system. Among them, the top priority is the Investigation Division.

The Investigation Division is the most valued practical force of the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to the type, it can be divided into Investigation Division 1, which is responsible for violent crimes such as murder, robbery, and rape; Investigation Division 2, which is responsible for intelligent crimes such as fraud and corporate crime; Investigation Division 3, which is responsible for cases such as theft; and Investigation Division 4, which is responsible for organized crime.

Like Officer Megure in "Detective Conan," he is a police inspector of Investigation Division 1.

Asano Aiko was a little surprised to hear this request. She thought Akiwara Yuto had encountered some trouble and needed to find the police, so she said nervously: "Akiwara, has something happened?"

Akiwara Yuto heard her tone and knew she had misunderstood. He originally wanted to explain, but for some reason, he suddenly wanted to tease the other party.

He coughed and pretended to be serious: "No, I want to go and surrender."

Immediately after, he heard the sound of the receiver falling to the ground...

Oh no, the joke went too far.